Would you go on a date with my Mom?
by SchwarzePandaKatze
Summary: Regina owns a little bookshop and her most loyal customer (Henry) has a special request. (Alternate Universe)


Notes: I know most of you are waiting for an update of 'Yellow Car' but I'm having a writer's block. I have no idea how to go on with that story (but don't worry, I will figure something out ;-)) , so instead I wrote something else that was on my mind^^

Sorry if my english isn't always correct, I'm not a native speaker and I sadly don't have a beta reader.

**Would you go on a date with my Mom?**

Regina liked her bookshop. Since she was a kid she liked to read. After several unfulfilling high paid jobs, she decided to try to do what she liked. It was either with books or with horses. One day, when she saw the 'For Sale' sign in the dirty windows of a shop around the corner, the decision was made.

That's how she ended up in the stuffed store, with enough customers to pay the bills. Most people came in and asked for book advices and since she spent most of her time reading, she guessed right almost every time and people came back, complimenting her and asking for another book. The most loyal customer she had was a boy. He was around ten, he always had his nose in one of the books, reading in the corner near the window. Regina liked it when people just came in to read. Well it wasn't good for business if they didn't buy the book, but she liked to talk to the people about the books they were reading and she liked to hear the different opinions. The boy near the window read a lot and talked a lot when she asked him about the book he was reading. Regina liked having him around. By start of the month he would always buy a few books and since it was always around the same amount of money he spent, she guessed he spent all his pocket money to buy books. Once in a while she would give him a book for free and the bright smile and glowing eyes were worth more than money to her. She knew barely something about his life, they really just talked about books, that's why she was utterly confused about the latest question he had just asked her.

"What?"

"I asked if you would go on a date with my Mom." The boy, his name was Henry, repeated.

She barely knew his mother. Of course she had seen her a few times, even talked to her, but all she knew was that the woman was blonde and had an adorable kid.

A kid who had just outed his mother as a lesbian and was trying to hook her up with a stranger. Regina didn't know if it was cute or stupid. It was probably both.

She was about to scold him for making decisions about his mother's life without her approval, but he asked his question again and he had this adorable puppy eyes.

"She is really sad. Her last dates were horrible and I quote: 'All I want is one date with someone who isn't a complete maniac'."

Regina had to suppress a smile. She knew from own experience how hard it was to find a decent date who didn't turn into some weirdo. "Henry. You can't walk around and ask strangers to date your Mom."

"But you are not a stranger."

Good point. "To you. I don't know your Mom."

"You get to know her on the date. That's what you do at dates anyway, get to know each other."

"Henry..."

"She is nice. And you are nice too. So it would be a perfect date."

The logic of a kid. Regina sighed. "No. I'm not going on a date with your mother."

"Are you a homophobe?"

"What? No!" And she wasn't. She had dated women before.

"Good. Then you can date her." Henry was really persistent (and blunt). He smiled at her and she argued the whole afternoon why she wouldn't date his Mother. The next day the topic didn't come up and she was glad. She was still exhausted from the day before, Henry had tried everything to change her mind, and she had to admit, he was really clever. The day went by uneventful. Henry was sitting in his corner and reading like nothing had happened. She thought about talking to him again about how inappropriate it was for him to ask people to date his Mom, but maybe he had already gotten that from yesterday's arguments. When Henry went home, he had hugged her for the first time and had said "Thank you" and Regina was glad not mentioning yesterday's argument.

That was until one hour later when her phone rang.

"The Mills' book store."

"Hi. I'm Emma. Henry's Mom. Henry gave me your number and told me I should call you. He told me you wanted to...meet with me?"

The last sentence was said uncertain, like she wanted Regina to clarify it. Now she knew why Henry was so quiet today he was scheming plans.

"Did he say that?" Regina asked.

There was a moment of hesitation and an uncertain answer. "I'm sorry if I got that wrong I didn't want to bother you."

Regina could already hear the embarrassment in Emma's voice and she was silently cursing Henry for getting her into this situation. It would be awkward if she turned Emma down now.

"No, no, you don't bother me. I was just...surprised that you called so soon, I wasn't prepared for that." Regina hoped she sounded convincing enough. "And I didn't say 'meet' I said 'date' but if you don't want to that's fine." If she saw Henry again, he would be in big trouble.

She could hear the relief in Emma's voice. "I would love to meet with you. Or date." Emma chuckled. "Henry talks a lot about you. He really likes you."

That kid was in so much trouble. That hug today was only a bribe, she knew that now and flattering her wouldn't get him off the hook. "He is really special." A special little imp.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Regina sat at the restaurant table, waiting for Emma to arrive. Emma was late and Regina began to wonder if she had stood her up. She should have never agreed to this date. It was all Henrys fault for telling her what terrible dates his mother had and that she was sad and needed a good date for once. Regina could more than relate to that. She had stopped dating because it became to frustrating to meet new people and end up in awkward silence or pretend to listen to their boring lives.

A glimpse of red caught her eye and as she looked closer she saw Emma approaching her, an apologizing smile on her lips and a stunning red dress around her body. "Sorry I'm late." She sat across from Regina. "I took a wrong turn and then I couldn't drive back and I ended up driving clueless through the streets."

Emma's cheeks were slightly red and she was a little out of breath as if she had run here. Her curly hair was slightly messed from the wind and Regina had to admit she found the sight very endearing.

"You look gorgeous." Regina said with a smile and she meant it. Earlier this evening she had thought she would just endure the date a little boy had urged her to attend, but now she thought she could enjoy it.

"Thanks." Emma shyly responded and her cheeks got a taint darker.

The waiter walked to their table and asked Emma what she wanted to drink.

"Ummm... one of this." She pointed to Regina's wineglass. The waiter nodded and left.

"I thought you were driving."

Emma shrugged. "One during dinner won't hurt. Speaking of dinner, what can you recommend?"

"Depends on what you like to eat."

Regina made a few suggestions and Emma picked one. The waiter brought Emma's wine and took their orders. As he left Regina was sure that the typical awkward silence or the awkward getting to know each other part would follow. Both things she disliked.

"The last book recommendation you gave Henry was really good. I liked that book."

"You read it?"

"Yeah, I liked how the evil villain turned out to be the victim."

"I wouldn't call that character a victim." Regina remarked while she sipped on her wine.

"Then what would you call it?" Emma asked curiously.

"I would say there is neither good nor evil in this world. What we sometimes think is good can, when looked from another angle, be evil. Or the other way around. So rather than just see the world in black and white, we should consider it gray. The character is neither an evil villain nor a good saint and definitely not a victim. It's a person who struggles to find a place to feel safe, to feel wanted, to feel happy and is trying different methods to achieve this goal. That's why I would say the character is just a person. A human being after all, who struggles to find a place in the world."

"Interesting answer." Emma smiled and Regina could see the sparkle in the green-blue eyes. "But you forgot one little detail."

Regina arched an eyebrow and tilted her head to one side. "And what would that be?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They talked about books and their fictional character, about storytelling, about in which fantasy world they would like to live in and what mythical creature they would have as a pet.

And somehow between her second glass of wine and their conversation about magic Regina forgot to be mad at the little boy who tricked her into going on a date with his mother.

Dinner was far too fast over, although they had stretched it by telling the waiter they wanted to eat desserts and sending him away twice with the excuse they both didn't know what they wanted yet. More and more guests were leaving the restaurant to go home and rest their lazy feet and at some point they had to tell the waiter that they wanted the check.

He laid the bill on the table, somewhere in the middle because he didn't know who would pay. Before Regina's hand reached the piece of paper, Emma had already her hand on top of the bill.

"I'm paying."

"Definitely not!" Regina objected. "I asked you out, which means I'm paying."

"I made you wait and I still feel terrible about it, so I'm paying." There was no further discussion because Emma had already put some bank notes into the waiters hand and thanked him for his good service. He smiled and wished them a good night.

"Shall we go?" Regina asked, although she wouldn't mind spending some more time with Emma.

"Yeah."

As they stood up and walked towards the exit Emma glanced towards her. "I think I forgot to tell you that this dress looks really good on you."

Regina smiled and was sure that the heat that rose in her cheeks had nothing to do with the wine she had. "Thank you."

"Where did you park your car?" Emma asked and Regina just knew that Emma would walk her to her car if she had come with one.

"I took a cab."

"Oh."

"I will just call another one to drive me home."

"I could drive you home." Emma offered and Regina was sure there was a little bit of hope in her voice. "I mean we basically live in the same neighborhood, so..." Emma didn't end her sentence, she hopefully looked at Regina and held her breath. The blonde had only drank one glass of wine during dinner, so her driving ability shouldn't be affected.

"Sure. If it doesn't bother..."

"Doesn't bother me at all." Emma quickly interrupted and led them to her car. "Sorry it is a little messy, I didn't think I would have company on the way home."

When Regina entered the car, she picked up a book that was lying to her feet.

"Sorry. Henry leaves them lying around everywhere." Emma said apologizing and put the book on the backseat. Regina could see three other books on the backseat and one in front of her.

"He sure reads a lot." Regina said with a warm smile.

The carefree laugh that came from Emma was warming her heart. "You have no idea." Emma got out between her laughter. "He has at least one book in every room. There is even one on the balcony and one in the bathroom."

"And you can keep up with him?"

"I wish I could. It is like he is eating those books. I only read one book at a time. He is currently reading seven."

"Seven?"

"Yeah, I have no idea how he does that." But from the way Emma said it, it was clear that she was proud at her kid.

They kept talking throughout the whole drive to Regina's apartment and as they parked Regina noticed that there was not once a moment of awkward silence between them and she enjoyed their whole evening.

Well, that was until now. An awkward silence settled between them and Regina should probably say goodbye and leave the car, but she still couldn't part from the enchanting blonde. It had been ages since she had felt so alive, since she had laughed so lightly and carefree during a dinner with someone else. She didn't want the evening to end just now.

"I had a really nice time today." Regina said while watching those shining eyes of Emma.

A shy smile appeared on Emma's face. "Me too."

Regina leaned towards Emma to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek, but while she leaned in the air around them went static. Emma also leaned in, eyes switching between Regina's lips and her eyes. Her lips were slightly parted and Regina momentarily forgot how to breathe. She closed her eyes just a second before their lips touched and _wow_.

She didn't know what she had expected, but definitely not this. Not these soft lips who brushed against her own, Emma's hand who caress her cheek and the scent of Emma who just made her forget where she was.

The kiss lasted a moment, a second, a lifetime. As they parted Regina was breathless, looking in sparkling green-blue eyes.

She was also speechless, which didn't happen often.

It was Emma who spoke up first. "When do we meet again?"

Regina's lips curved into a smile. Her lips were still tingling as she claimed Emma's lips again.

**The End**

Notes: I wrote the end scene in the middle of the night while my girlfriend tried to sleep (the emphasis is placed on 'tried', because of the bright light of my cell she couldn't sleep^.^) so you should all thank her for letting me enjoy my crazy 'I-have-to-write-condition' ;-)


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